A Change of Heart
by OblivionWings
Summary: Ash and Dawn were getting along so well as a couple, until he gets sick of her bubbly attitude and she eventually decided to leave him, making Dawn completely heartbroken after that. What if a certain plum-haired trainer appears at the right time and place? [Slight AU, slight OOC Ash and Paul, Ikarishipping one-shot]


**Hi guys, this is the first Ikarishipping fic written by me, so I hope you readers like it :) Please R &R!**

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When Dawn and Ash became a couple, he decided to go back to Kanto region for a while, which Dawn decided that she should take a chance to participate the contests in Kanto. So far, she was left with only 1 ribbon until she can participate the next Grand Festival that will be held a few months after, but things weren't going so well for them now.

"Ash, the next contest is coming up real soon! Please come and support me for the last time, I promise! If you came, I might be able to win the next-"

"Alright, I had enough of you, Dawn!" Ash shouted frustratingly while furrowing his eyebrows, as if he was holding in his feelings for a long time. "You should really try to stop relying me as a lucky charm to win contests, I have to train my pokemon to become stronger so that I could challenge Tobias again in the future, you're wasting my time."

Dawn felt like an arrow had just pierced through her heart, "B-But I'm your girlfriend, Ash! Its just that I want you to see me how I performed in those contests…" She carefully explained, hoping that what she said wouldn't trigger Ash's anger even further.

"Yes I know, but you forced me to watch every contest that you participated while I seriously need some personal time to train my pokemon. Don't you understand my feelings of wanting to become the Pokemon Master so badly? Please Dawn, I'm not trying to become a coordinator." Ash looked at the ground, feeling annoyed towards her attitude bit by bit as time passed by.

Dawn could felt her tears began to fall on her face, unstoppable. She realized that this isn't able to work out anymore, so she eventually decided on a final decision.

"F-Fine," She stuttered, wiping off her tears as her bangs covered her face, "If you really want more personal time, then why don't we break up?"

* * *

 _~~2 Months Later, after Dawn came back alone to Sinnoh from Kanto~~_

A bluenette sat on a bench inside the Veilstone Apartment Store, sobbing to herself while ignoring some of the stranger's weird glances towards her. She thought that shopping might be able to cure her sadness for a short while, but it did not work out at all.

She looked at her pocket mirror she recently bought for herself, her eyes were turning redder and bulging out, due to the long amount of crying over the past 2 months. Of course, she didn't tell her mom anything about this, after all, her mom didn't even knew that she was dating Ash in the first place.

Dawn stared at her reflection, ' _how pathetic of me.'_ She thought, as she put back the mirror into her bag and stood up to leave.

Right before she left the apartment store, someone touched her shoulder. Dawn turned around, widening her eyes when she realized the person that was behind her.

It was Paul.

"Troublesome girl? I never thought that I'll meet-" He stopped his speaking when he realized how miserable she was from her appearance. "Um, what happened to you?"

Dawn turned away from him, walking out towards the door, "That's none of your business." She began to run when she left the building, but Paul caught her in no time. He stood in front of her crossing his arms, preventing the bluenette from escaping.

"Dawn, just tell me what happened. From the way you look, it seems that something horrible happened to you." He spoke softly with no emotions, but was clearly concern of her deep inside.

Dawn couldn't stop herself from crying again, so she covered her face immediately with both of her hands. Seeing that she was clearly unable to speak any further, Paul surprisingly brought her to the pokemon center without saying a word.

After they arrived, Dawn sat on the sofa while Paul handed her a cup of water that he got from Nurse Joy.

"Thanks Paul." Dawn murmured, sipping her cup of water. ' _I never thought that he could be so kind.'_ She thought to herself.

"You're welcome," Paul replied back, as he coughed a bit to clear the awkwardness between them. " So, do you mind if you could explain what happened?"

Dawn shook her head and started to tell him the whole 'incident' and the break up between Ash and her.

After she finished her explanation, Paul had to process of what she said from the start to end, since it was a small surprise for him that Ash actually chose pokemon ahead of his companion. He was the one that taught him the importance of friendship, but it seems that Ash betrayed himself of what he said to Paul.

"Hn, how pathetic of him, it seems that I was wrong that how much he doesn't like to over-train his pokemon. " He replied with a hint of disappointement, which Dawn realized it from the tone of his voice.

"…Yeah, I guess." Dawn looked at the ground, thinking how much Ash changed. Losing Ash has been really hurt to her, but after talking it to Paul, it made her felt a lot better, as if a rock was lifted up from her heart.

She looked back at him again after a few minutes, "Paul, do you think it's all my fault when this happened?"

"Well," Paul scratched at the back of his head, thinking of an answer, "I don't think its all your fault, actually. If Ash truly loves you, isn't it normal that he would want to spent time with you as much as he can and support you by your side no matter what you did? To be honest, I still think he's too oblivious and sucks at love." Paul sighed and sweatdropped to himself when he realized how much he talked to the troublesome girl. He never talked so much to any person except Reiji, so he looked at the ground to cover up his embarrassment.

"Heh…I can't believe you know so much about love! What are you, a love specialist?" Dawn laughed for the first time after all she fought with Ash.

Seeing her that she finally laughed, Paul couldn't help but also smiled to himself a little.

"Anyway, I felt a lot better now, its all thanks to you, Paul." She beamed a smile towards him to show her appreciation.

To his surprise, he began to feel heat creeping up his face when he saw that smile of hers. "Stupid troublesome girl…" Paul turned away whispering to himself, so quiet that Dawn didn't hear what he said.

"Paul, what did you say just now?" Dawn questioned him, tilting her head a little.

"Nothing…" Paul scratched at the back of his head again, "If you don't mind, you can join me if u want, since I'm planning to go to Hoenn to challenge the Battle Frontier." As soon as he said that, Dawn's eyes sparkled, she never thought that he warmed up towards her that much!

"Really? I can?"

"Yes you can, its just that it would be troublesome if something horrible happens to you again when I'm not here, don't mistaken." Paul emphasized the last two words, wanting to make sure that she wouldn't think of the 'other way'.

"Alright! My mom will definitely let me on traveling in a new region!" Dawn punched a fist in the air to show her happiness. "Anyway, nice to meet you, Paul."

"Nice to meet you too, troublesome girl." He smirked.


End file.
